Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society

We are a forum for the interchange and assessment of research and scholarship in the social and behavioral sciences, dealing with the military establishment and civil-military relations.

IUS Canada 2024: Registration Now Open

Registration is now open for the 2024 IUS Canada Conference. The conference will be held at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario from October 25-27.

Click here to register for the conference.

Armed Forces & Society Announces New Editor-in-Chief: Ori Swed

Date: September 2024

This year the IUS is proud to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of our journal, Armed Forces & Society (AF&S). In 2025 Editor-in-Chief Dr. Patricia Shields will retire after more than two decades of excellent service to the journal and our field of research.

The IUS Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Dr. Ori Swed will become the next editor-in-chief of AF&S. Ori is a political sociologist and Associate Professor at Texas Tech University. He has been an active IUS Fellow and a contributor, reviewer, and editorial board member for AF&S.

Swed brings broad interdisciplinary skills, cutting-edge research, and entrepreneurial experience to this editorial role. His background includes publishing, research, and teaching in sociology, political science, international relations, mathematics, data science, security studies, and terrorism studies. His work addresses emerging trends in our field, such as the outsourcing of war, drone technology, and cyber operations. In 2017 Swed founded the Peace, War, & Social Conflict Laboratory, which promotes experiential learning by involving undergraduate and graduate students in active research projects.

The AF&S editor-in-chief transition period will include an overlap in 2025 to ensure a smooth transition.

If you’d like to connect with Swed in person, he will be participating in the upcoming IUS Canada Conference at Carleton University in Ottawa, 25-27 October 2024 (registration is open now: https://www.iusafs.org/ius-canada-region/) and at the next IUS international conference 23-26 October 2025 in Reston, VA, USA.

We would like to thank the following members for their service on Editor-in-Chief advisory search committee: Pat Shields, David Segal, Richard Chasdi, Morten Ender, Lindy Heinecken, Rene Moelker, Brenda Moore, Don Travis, and Jeremy Teigen.

Please join us in congratulating Swed on his new position and extending our best wishes as he prepares to assume his new responsibilities: [email protected].

Exploring the Nexus of Military and Society at a 50-year Milestone

Date: June 2024

The latest issue of  the US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters contains an article by Pat Shields, editor-in-chief of Armed Forces & Society. In "Exploring the Nexus of Military and Society at a 50-year Milestone," Shields traces the history of the military & society field of study using the 50-anniversary of Armed Forces & Society as a touchstone. The article highlights the important role of IUS and its founder, Morris Janowitz and  traces the evolution of the field. It is filled with the accomplishments and achievements of IUS members and Armed Forces & Society contributors.

Click here to read this open access article.

Armed Forces & Society 50th Anniversary: 1974-2024


Founded in 1974, Armed Forces & Society is the leading peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, and international journal publishing on military establishments, civil-military relations, the use and limits of force in armed conflict and peacekeeping operations, security, and other related topics. In 2024, the journal celebrates its 50th anniversary with a series of special anniversary articles which will all available online before being consolidated into a special anniversary print issue provided to all IUS Fellows as part of their membership.

Ryan J. Burch Joins IUS Board of Directors as Executive Director

Date: November 2023

The IUS Board of Directors is proud to announce that Ryan J. Burch has joined the Board as Executive Director of the IUS.

Ryan is a seasoned professional in the realm of anti-financial crime, currently serving as Vice President for the Financial Intelligence Unit at Deutsche Bank. With an extensive career spanning renowned financial institutions, both domestic and foreign, Ryan has honed his expertise in critical areas such as anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, and global sanctions.

Having contributed his skills to industry giants like JPMorgan Chase, Western Union, and USAA, Ryan's journey has been marked by a commitment to maintaining the integrity and security of financial systems worldwide. His experience also includes multiple consulting engagements and extends beyond borders, including a significant stint in Saudi Arabia, where he navigated the complexities of the international financial security landscape. Beyond the financial realm, Ryan's career intersects with the complex arena of civil-military relations and associated peripheral topics, such as security, governance, and international cooperation.

Ryan's academic journey commenced at Loyola University Chicago under the mentorship of distinguished scholars John Allen Williams and Sam Sarkesian, both former Presidents of the IUS. Delving into Political Science during his undergraduate years at Loyola, he furthered his education with a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice and a Master's in International Relations from American Military University. He has also earned the distinguished Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and Certified Fraud Examiner professional designations.

In 2005, Ryan became actively involved with the IUS, initially overseeing conference registration and subsequently shouldering expanding responsibilities over the years. The IUS holds a special place in Ryan's professional and scholarly heart, reflecting his deep appreciation for the critical issues it brings to the forefront of global discourse.

Please join us in thanking Ryan for his continuing service and leadership in the IUS and in welcoming him to this new role.

We would also like to thank Dr. Robert Vitas for his many decades of service to the organization as Executive Director. Vitas is transitioning to the role of IUS Treasurer effective immediately.

2023 Moskos Award Winner Announced: Edward Gonzalez

Date: September 2023

We are pleased to announce Edward Gonzalez as the winner of the 2023 Moskos Award for his article "Adjudicating Competing Theories: Does Civilian Control over the Military Decrease Conflict?"

This article addresses a central question for the political sociology of the military: are states in which civilian leadership has more control over the military less likely to initiate wars than states where the military has greater say over foreign policy? This article has an impressive agenda. Edward Gonzalez seeks to adjudicate between two competing theories about the impact of civilian control on the propensity to use force, “civilian conservatism” (civilian control leads to less war) and “military conservatism” (civilian control leads to more war). In addition, he uses his larger data sets for hypothesis testing. He employs a sophisticated approach, using Poisson regression models and the established, widely regarded MID4 dataset on international conflict. His results run against the grain of current thinking on the consequences of civilian control for the propensity of states to use force at a time of decreasing regional stability. Gonzalez performs diligent robustness checks on his coefficients and provides prudent caveats to quantitative conclusions on the data, some of which may be addressed through broader social science research, including detailed case studies and normative analysis. Our author makes sense of his counterintuitive findings and shows the continuing relevance of “military conservatism” theory on the use of force, a theory that, perhaps too soon, has faded from scholarly interest. In this remarkable article, Edward Gonzalez advances the state of our knowledge on the relationship between civilian control, military involvement in national security decision making, and the causes of war.

Edward Gonzalez earned his PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Southern California in 2023, with a focus on International Security. His dissertation examines the puzzle of nuclear reversals: why some states that were pursuing nuclear bombs decided to reverse course and terminate their nuclear ambitions. His dissertation advances a novel two-pathway theory of nuclear reversals, examining how the use/threat of force and international norms, respectively, influence states to terminate nuclear weapons pursuit. In addition to studying nuclear politics, Gonzalez is interested in international conflict and war. Currently, he is collaborating in a book project and research articles with the Near Crisis Project, a multi-university collaborative project studying near crisis events, particularly exploring why some disputes escalate into international crises while others do not. Gonzalez will be working as a visiting lecturer for the Master of Arts in International Relations (MAIR) program at New York University for the 2023-2024 academic year. Prior to USC, he earned a Master of Arts in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach in 2015 and a BA in Political Science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2012.

The task of finding the winner fell to the selection committee, composed of Professor Damon Coletta (United States Air Force Academy), Professor Yagil Levy (The Open University of Israel), and Professor Pascal Vennesson (S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University Singapore) (Chair). We appreciate their hard work and dedication.

Brenda L. Moore Joins IUS Board of Directors as Secretary of the IUS

Date: November 2022

Brenda L. Moore is an associate professor of sociology at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), where she has been conducting research and teaching courses in the areas of military sociology, race and ethnicity, gender, and social stratification for more than three decades. She is Editor of Special Issue on Women in the Military: Armed Forces and Society 43 (2): 191-392. She is author of the books: To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race: The Story of the Only African American WACs Stationed Overseas During World War II, and Serving Our Country: Japanese American Women in the Military during World War II; and has published several scholarly articles analyzing survey data on women and minorities in the military.

Moore completed her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Chicago in 1987 where she studied under the supervision of the late Morris Janowitz, founder of the IUS. She has been an active member of the IUS since 1987, including as organizer, discussant, and presenter at the biennial conferences; as the Chair of the Student Paper Award Committee; as a member of the IUS Council; and as a member of the Board of Editors of the IUS journal, Armed Forces & Society.

Moore is a Vietnam War era veteran, having served in the U.S. Army from 1973 to 1979. During her tour, Moore was assigned to the 46th Combat Support Hospital at Fort Devens. She was later assigned as a Race Relations/Equal Opportunity Specialist in Schweinfurt, Germany, after graduating from the Defense Race Relations Institute in Florida in 1976.

Moore serves on national committees addressing issues pertaining to active-duty service members and military veterans. She was appointed by President Clinton to serve as a member of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). In 1995 she served as a subject expert in the NGO forum on Women in International Securities held at the World's Women's Conference in Beijing. In the fall of 1999, she completed three years of service as a member of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), advising the Secretary of Defense on military matters concerning active-duty women. Recently she served as a member of the Veterans’ Rural Health Advisory Committee providing advice to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on health care issues affecting Veterans residing in rural areas (2016-2022).

Please join us in thanking Brenda for her continuing service and leadership in the IUS and in welcoming her to this new role.

IUS Secretary Laura Miller Elected Chair & President of the IUS

Date: October 2021

The Council of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society has elected Laura Miller as new IUS Chair/President. She succeeds Patricia Shields who will continue serving as Editor of Armed Forces and Society.

Miller has been an IUS member since the early 1990s. She served on the IUS Council from 1995-2016, and has been a member of the Board and the IUS Secretary since 2005. She has also served as an occasional reviewer for the journal and now serves on the Board of Editors. Her biographical information is at: https://www.rand.org/about/people/m/miller_laura.html.

Donate to the Charles Moskos Prize

The Charles Moskos Prize is named in honor of Charles C. Moskos, PhD, beloved mentor, friend, and former President/Chair of IUS. This Prize will inspire future generations of civil-military relations scholars by recognizing, promoting, and rewarding annually the best article published by an emerging scholar in Armed Forces & Society.

For more information on the Charles Moskos Prize, eligibility and benefits, click here.

To give a tax-deductible donation to the Charles Moskos Prize, use the following Paypal link:

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The Fellows of the IUS are selected on the basis of their professional qualifications. The criteria are advanced education in related fields, research publications, teaching or other demonstrated processional accomplishments in the field of military studies.

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If you have an announcement you'd like to submit to IUS, or if you would like to submit to our Call for Papers, you can do so by using our forms for each section.

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